The Role of ACAT

The Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) performs the assessment, psychological and physical, that determines the accommodation to which one is eligible in a retirement village. They are based at the hospital closest to where one lives. If one is living in Seven Hills, an outer western suburb of Sydney, NSW, Australia for instance, you would request an assessment from the ACAT based at the Blacktown Hospital when you decide to enter a Retirement Village.

The guidelines reflect the level of care required by the person applying for residency, and the amount of funding the retirement village obtains from the Commonwealth Government: -

1. Self-care: Normal or only slightly forgetful. Capable of looking after yourself.
2. Hostel: Between Self-care and Nursing Home - usually Dementia/early stages of
Alzheimer's disease. Incapable of looking after yourself; able to bathe and dress
oneself but not bedridden.
3. Nursing Home: Bedridden and/or later stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Once the assessment, which is very thorough, has been completed one can then apply for residency in a retirement village. One can only apply in the category that ACAT has stipulated and one would normally register and be placed in a queue in a waiting list. It should be appreciated that one cannot apply for residency that has not been stipulated by ACAT. For instance, if ACAT has stipulated Self-care one cannot apply for Hostel, or vice-versa.

Introduction
Obaining a Copy of the Will
Accommodation in a Retirement Village
Guardianship Tribunal
Office of the Protective Commissioner
Office of the Public Guardian
Ageing & Disability Department
Case Studies
World Wide Web Resources
Elder Abuse